Customer Reviews

Racing With the Moon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over the past two or three years, there have been a number of releases of the recordings made by Band Leader-Singer, Vaughn Monroe. This is quite remarkable because up until 1997, the only CD I could find was one issued by an Ohio company which seems now to be out of print.

That said, we now have not one, but two CDs bearing the title, "Racing With the Moon" which anyone whose past 45, knows as the theme song of Vaughn Monroe. That other release, which I have previously reviewed, focuses more on the live broadcasts from the Camel Caravan radio show which Monroe headed up on Saturday nights, first over CBS and later, NBC.

This CD features strictly RCA Victor releases and includes most of the top hits of Vaughn as well as a number that reached the top five of the charts. Let's look at a few:

"Seems Like Old Times" is usually associated with Guy Lombardo but I think, and I admit a bias, this version which includes the chorous is better than Lombardo's."Rum and Coca Cola" is also a lively rendition of the song made popular by the Andrews Sisters who had a superior recording. What is interesting about "Rum" however, is that it was issued to "cover" the Andrews version but when it was turned over to the "B" side, it featured the All-Time Favorite, "There I've Said it Again"!

I especially liked the old Betty Hutton song, "I wish I din't Love You So" which is again sung with the chorous and made it to #4 on the Hit Parade. "Bamboo", a mild hit from the early 1950s displays Vaughn's vocal talents and "Mule Train" which Frankie Laine made famous was sung by Monroe in his Western, "Singing Guns"

A comment on the content. I applaud the producers of this CD for including only Vaughn Monroe on the vocals. Too many of the other CD's issued under Monroe's name in these listings give too much emphasis to novelty songs by Ziggy Talent, a girl vocalist, and several instrumentals. It occurs to me that people who buy Vaughn Monroe CD's want to hear Monroe and not other artists who otherwise would remain undistinguished.

My other gripe about this CD as well as others, is the tendency to repeat songs that appear on all of the other issues - "Racing", "There I Go", "My Devotion" "Someday" etc. Besides not having two CDs with the same name, why not also issue future CDs which include tunes that are not on any of the current plethora. I would be happy to supply the titles. As of now, serious collectors find themselves buying CDs that might contain 18 songs but 12 of them are already in the collection. If you have no other CDs of Monroe this is a good buy because it does contain most of his major successes.

This recent release, another produced by a UK company, is one of a number of CD's featuring Vaughn Monroe that have become available. Only three years ago, there was no more than 1 or at most 2, CDs and now there are several and at least two more are due to be released next month (June).

Its about time! It seems that every day more people are either discovering or re-discovering what a fine musical talent Vaughn Monroe was. In this CD, for some reason, a British quirk maybe, Vaughn's name is spelled V A U G H A N. Someone at the studio failed a quality control check!

Enough of that now into the music itself. There are a total of 28 tracks and a playing time of 72 minutes. Vaughn's theme, "Racing With the Moon" is in my opinion overplayed as it is used to open and close a number of the tracks. In every case, Monroe was in fine voice in all of the cases. In addition to some of his trade mark songs - "Red Roses", "Ballerina" and "There I Go", there are an number of sound tracks from the old Camel Caravan radio broacasts featuring Vaughn, the Moon Men and Moon Maids doing a number of the song hits of the time including "Buttons and Bows" and a very fine rendition of "Where or When", the old Rogers and Hart chestnut.

This CD also has contributions by guests such as Claude Thronhill and Ginny Powell and a fine instrumental by the band on "Harlem Nocturne".

CD producers - US or UK or anywhere, please give us more Monroe especially the tracks from the popular Camel Caravan years!

As a lover of big band music i must say this was great stuff and would reccomend it.I was not yet born when this music was popular but I envy the people who were.You could dance close to your girl and the lyrics you could understand.Thank you!

Vaughn Monroe has always been one of my favorite singers. His mellow baritone voice is soft to the ear, and the gentleness of the words to the music leaves no doubt what he is singing. Vaughn Monroe was truly a gifted musican and singer, and it's too bad more people don't know of his gift of voice he gave to the musical world.

Vaghn Monroe has a unique voice that sends you into another place and time. When listening to this CD I felt myself swaying to the music. I love it!!! And for all of you 40's music fans, this is a must have treasure!!!

If you are a big band fan, then this album is a must. Lots of great standards, plus V. Monroe's hit and signature tune, Racing with the Moon.

Great songs -- great audio -- like having the whole band in your living room -- music as it was meant to be heard.